A Stark contrast
by vf19excalibur
Summary: Geez this series is dark. So why not balance it out with a couple drabbles in an AU, modern happier time? Primarily the Starks, especially Jon & Arya, with a couple Tyrion stories too.
1. Chapter 1

This was kinda rushed because with Halloween coming soon, I worry that I'll procrastinate til the occasion is over.

I own nothing

Seeing Jon's matte black-on-black-on black Speed Triple & Theon's obnoxiously yellow 911 Cabriolet in parked in front of the Stark mansion was a common occurrence. But after a full day's work, picking up Rickon from soccer practice & Bran at the library, with traffic crawling at every length of the drive, Robb wanted nothing but to head straight to bed and forget the whole day.

As soon as he'd unlocked the doors, Rickon bolted for his usual afterschool cartoons, while Bran grabbed his book laden backpack, eyes never straying from the book he'd just borrowed. Robb trudged after them, locking the door and felt an immediate sense of foreboding.

"Hi Robb!" said Jon & Theon in unison.

Robb's eyebrow twitched. Jon's wide smile & Theon's arm around him was suspicious.

"We've figured out this year's Halloween costumes," said Jon, holding a vaguely familiar looking green plastic knife.

Theon grabbed him by the arms, shaking him, "It's fucking brilliant! I can't believe we've never thought of it before."

Following the two, they led him to a half dozen cardboard boxes strewn about the living room. Styrofoam packing bits & plastic wrap lay strewn everywhere.

"Five Stark children, plus me, your favourite cousin," Jon began.

Theon grabbed a clear plastic package from one of the boxes & slapped it onto Robb's chest. He dumbly held onto it, taking a second to see a familiar red.

"You're the oldest, you're our leader & the T-Rex was always your favourite dinosaur," Jon continued.

"And red's your favourite colour," Theon pointed to the red tie peeking out from his dark grey business suit.

Robb couldn't keep his grin from widening. "Go, go Power Rangers." he mused.

Jon pressed one of the buttons on the Dragon Dagger & it played the summon Dragonzord theme.

"There's no way Sansa's up for this though," Robb said sadly.

Theon nodded to the backyard. Robb saw a flash of pink. Sansa did a flip before letting loose an arrow at an archery target at the other end of the lawn. As if feeling their eyes on her, she ran up to them, a bounce in her step.

"This is such a cute outfit!" Sansa said, looking at herself in a hallway mirror. She held up her compound bow, "And look, I can use the same bow & arrows I used all those years I went as Katniss."

"What the hell is that?" Rickon asked, rounding the corner of the hallway, a bag of chips in hand

"It's the Power Rangers!" Theon looked slightly offended.

Rickon looked doubtful, "Isn't that for babies?"

"C'mon Rickon. There's not many costume sets we can all be in," Jon reasoned.

"I got this guys," Robb said, reaching into one of the boxes. He turned to Rickon, "All the Power Rangers get their own weapon. This one's yours." He ripped the plastic wrap from the Black Ranger's axe.

Dropping the chips, Rickon reverently walked towards Robb, taking the foam axe in hand. It was almost as tall as he was, "Fucking badass."

Sansa marched up to him, pulling him by the ear, "Rickon, language!" She glared at Theon and covered Rickon's ears, "Greyjoy, he gets this from you! Keep your foul language to yourself."

Theon tried looking innocent, but Sansa's glare turned even harsher.

"Geez, fine," Theon put his hands, "PG-13, okay, okay."

The opening of the front door signalled the arrival of the Stark parents, dressed in their leathers after a leisurely cruise. With autumn approaching, they took as many afternoon motorcycle rides they could together before the weather got any colder. Catelyn took off her helmet, shaking her hair out, while Ned looked at the kids in the living room.

"Power Rangers, right?" Ned said, after a few moments trying to recall.

Catelyn shook her head, "I spent 2 Christmases driving all around the city trying to get those toys." She kissed Ned, "I'm gonna finish up dinner."

Ned ruffled Rickon's hair, "There were five of them," he said gesturing to his kids, and pointed at Jon, "And then the green one joined later."

"Yes sir," Jon nodded.

"So who are you going to be Theon?" Ned asked, looking through the delivery boxes.

"My costume'll come in sometime next week," Theon answered, "Full custom everything."

"What about you dad?" Robb asked, "Gonna be James Bond again?"

"Of course," Ned mused, "You know how much your mom loves being a Bond girl."

The Stark siblings winced. While Ned could be considered cold & unemotional, what he & his wife did in their bedroom could still be heard throughout the house.

"I'd love to be Bond someday," Jon mused aloud.

"You would have to cut your hair rather short then," Ned said motioning to Jon's head, "What's stopping you?"

Jon looked sheepish, "Arya likes my hair long."

"You bet I do," Arya said, bounding down the stairs. In her hands was a pair of yellow daggers. She twirled them around in deadly looking arcs.

Robb looked to Jon & Theon, "Those are foam too right?"

"Yeah," Arya answered for them, "But their balance sucked, so I put some weights in them." She twirled them once more before throwing them at Jon. He caught them easily & examined them.

"Wow, these are nice," he said, holding them aloft. With a quick twitch, he threw them one at a time at Arya, who caught both with one hand. No one was particularly surprised; Jon & Arya were always quite attuned to each other.

Coming from upstairs, everyone paused as they heard the distinctive theme song of the show. It only got louder as Bran walked down the stairs, phone in hand.

"I guess that makes me the Blue Ranger then?" Bran looked around to everyone in the living room. "Well, the triceratops was my favourite anyway."

Theon fistbumped Jon, "This is gonna be an awesome Halloween."

Epilogue

In the end, Theon couldn't technically attend the Halloween party held by the Starks. His full custom Goldar costume, complete with wings, couldn't even get through any of the Stark mansion doors. Instead, he had his own party outside, haunting the grounds screaming maniacally to trick or treaters.

Sam found out about his friends Power Rangers costume plans & convinced Gilly to crossdress as Skull while he was Bulk. The two of them making out in a corner confused everybody, to which they claimed this was simply a slash fiction thing.

My original outline was just for the costume reveal, not for the Halloween party itself, hence the epilogue just to fill in what the rest of the cast would be wearing.


	2. Ned and the Wolf

Thinking up what Ned would do in the modern world, I came upon this idea & ran with it.

I own nothing

Ten floors up, on the roof of the police precinct, Eddard Stark looked down on the city. With no wind to blow it, snow fell gently down, quieting the evening so you couldn't hear the sounds of the city on a Friday night, 3 weeks from Christmas. It was a slight waver of the falling snow that alerted him of a presence, just to his left.

"Good evening Commissoner," a gravelly voice called out from the darkness.

Standing in the middle of the roof was a figure in black. Fully armored, with a cape & a distinctive wolf shaped cowl.

"Hello Wolf," Ned turned to the figure, leaning on the rooftop barrier, "Nice work with that hostage situation the other day,"

Wolf nodded almost imperceptibly, "Trant nearly made of a mess of it though."

"He's got 2 weeks unpaid leave for it," Ned answered.

"You didn't call me here to discuss hot headed swat team members did you?"

"I meant to thank you."

Wolf shook his head, "I told you, from the beginning, you never have to thank me. I only do what needs to be done."

"My daughter Arya, was one of the passengers on that bus," Ned said, watching the other man closely, "She was a fan of yours since the beginning, & I can't help but think she's an even bigger fan now."

It almost looked like the black clad man looked uncomfortable.

"I think she's infatuated with you now," Ned continued, "Not as an ideal, as what you doing all this stands for, but as a man."

"A Hero complex, nothing more. I'm sure it's temporary," Wolf's gravelly voice seemed softer, just for a second.

Sighing, Ned shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe I'm just seeing things. Looking too closely at things that aren't really there. What's really got me worried is my nephew, Jon."

"Perhaps I should-"

"His parents were killed, right in front of him when he was a kid. He just shut down. Not even Arya could reach him. In the end, we thought it best for him to leave the city, thought a change of scenery would do him good."

"Sir, I-"

Ned continued, looking out at the city, "He doesn't come back home for 8 years, never contacting us. We didn't even know if he was alive or not. He comes back, about a year ago, around the time you started, and forgive me for saying, he's a mess. He spends his trust fund on crazy toys & lives like a playboy, like he's eager to hit the tabloids."

Wolf stands still, his posture rigid, his breathing controlled.

"Arya detests him. They were so close before. It's like she's switched her attention from him onto you," Ned finally turns to look at the young man.

"I see."

"Do you Jon?"

The serious, professional superhero looked unsure. Ned made sure to remember this moment forever, "I get the feeling she's planning something very stupid. I hope you take care of her."

"Always."

After some thought, putting Ned in a modern day political situation would have him lose his head again. The man is just not cut out for politics. Police commissioner on the other hand, yes, that works. Add a little Batman influence & use GoT animal motifs and this is what you get.

And for added challenge, this was a Jon/Arya fic without Arya never showing up. This one may actually get a sequel at some point. C'mon, you do want to see Arya in this world don't you. Just got to let ideas percolate for a bit.


	3. Dancing

This was inspired by a commercial on tv right now.

I own nothing.

"Are you actually doing your homework?" Jon asked, sitting down beside her.

Arya put her pencil down, relaxing back into her chair, "It's Master Forel's training. I picked up the choreography in 15 minutes & got bored."

"What about your dance partner?"

"Joffrey flaked again, so Gendry's practicing with Sansa."

Jon nodded, reclining back to watch as on the other end of the banquet hall were couples practicing an intricate series of moves. Robb & Talisa were at the head of the group, being overseen by their dance instructor.

"Mr. Varys, could we please take a rest break?" Robb asked, his face flushed, "Need I remind you that some of us came straight from work to do this?"

"10 minutes," Varys complied, his expression that of indifference.

The couples all showed signs of relief, some flopping straight onto the dance floor, Robb being one of them.

"I'm sorry dear," Talisa said, kneeling down to embrace her fiancé, "He's supposedly the best at this."

Robb nodded & turned his head to kiss her.

"It doesn't look that difficult," Jon mused under his breath.

Evidently, everyone heard him as multiple heads turned in his direction.

"Screw you Snow," Theon gasped, spread eagle on the ground, "Bet you $50 you can't do this."

Standing up, Jon offered his hand to Arya, "You're on Jellyfish."

Jon lead Arya to the centre of the dance floor & someone cued up the music. Arya nodded & Jon mirrored her. Using a combination of varying degrees of pressure & glances, Arya lead Jon through the dance until it reached the point where Jon showed up & he continued more confidently. When the music ended, a series of slow claps reverberated from the other end of the banquet hall. Varys approached the two.

"Young man, why aren't you this young lady's partner?"

"It's my schedule," Jon gestured to his motorcycle leathers, "I've got a race the same day as the wedding, so me learning this dance would kinda be a waste."

"Ah, a shame. You two make a beautiful couple. And your chemistry is quite exquisite."

Theon walked up to them, waving his phone, "Double or nothing Snow, can you do the finale?"

Varys leaned in to watch, "Ah yes. I have been waiting to see if anyone could rise to this level, but so far, no one has impressed me enough to try that."

Jon studied the footage & looked to Arya, "You up for this?"

"Of course," Arya smirked, "It looks way more fun anyway."

Arya stepped back from Jon, carefully measuring out her paces. When she was about 20 feet away, she stopped and nodded at Jon. Readying his stance, Jon locked eyes with her & with a silent agreement Arya sprinted towards him. Right before it looked like they were about to collide, Arya jumped up, arms outstretched & Jon caught her by the hips, raising her high. Jon spun around slowly before throwing Arya up in the air, catching her and ending with a classic dip.

The banquet hall was quiet except for some light breathing from Jon & Arya. He leaned in closer, watching as the exhilaration from the lift slowly changed into one of longing.

"That was simply sublime," Varys said, hand over his heart. "I have never seen anyone perform it perfectly the first time."

"No fucking way," Theon grabbed his wallet, "One more-"

"Stop betting against them, Theon" Robb laughed, "At this rate, Arya's gonna be driving off with your Porsche."

"It's not about the money," Jon said, straightening up & bringing Arya to her feet, hand not leaving hers, "I knew we could do it. And I'm guessing you wanna do it one more time?"

Arya nodded & went back to her original spot & ran at Jon again. This time, she seemed to run too fast, overconfident, & when she jumped up, Jon felt it immediately. With a hard push, Jon tossed her into the air & Arya tucked into a forward front flip, landing like a gymnast. She bowed like one & looked over to apologetically.

"That one doesn't count," Jon smirked.

He backed up, with Arya doing the same, doubling the space in the previous lifts. Arya began her sprint before going into a cartwheel, backwards handspring & twisting before jumping into Jon's arms. He caught her even more surely that the first time before spinning in place faster than before, more confident of the move.

"Big finish!" Arya shouted.

Jon gave her a push into the air, but this time, offset his arms so Arya corkscrewed in midair before catching & dipping her. He leaned in close to give her a chaste kiss on the lips.

Talisa hauled Robb up by the collar with a force uncharacteristic of a woman her size. She pointed at Arya & Jon, "We're going that!"

This is also inspired by my cousin & I. We can synch so well, we aren't allowed to be on the same team for family events.


	4. Anniversary

'Stupid Sansa," thought Arya weighing the box in her hands.

After weeks of Sansa excitedly awaiting her 1 year anniversary of dating her boyfriend & picking out the perfect present for him, some part of her excitement rubbed off on her and she ended up buying her own anniversary present for Jon. Here she was, waiting in Jon's apartment, staring blankly at the tv waiting for him to get home. The news showed that the rain that started at noon wouldn't let up until the next morning & traffic slowed to a halt. She had biked to his apartment, making much better time than if she had driven, but she had arrived soaked to the bone.

Jon had given her a key as soon as he'd moved in 4 those years ago & the significance of it hadn't really hit her until she happened upon conversations Sansa had with her girlfriends about their boyfriends. They were at the stage where giving their significant others keys to their apartments was a big step. Arya didn't even think of the unassuming way Jon had furnished the apartment's second bedroom for her. It was never going to be rented out to a roommate or used as a guest room; it was simply Arya's room away from her family's mansion.

After slipping out of her wet clothes, she drew herself a hot bath, taking her time in case Jon came home & decided to join her. He never showed, & now here she was, flipping channels trying to find something to watch. Enough time had passed that her hair was now completely dry. She was careful to arrange Jon's hoodie that she wore so that the hood wouldn't soak up any water from her hair. The sweatpants she'd looked for all over at the Stark mansion had been at Jon's all along & now her all black outfit had her practically camouflaged into the black leather couch in the living room.

"Hey Arya, can you open up?"

Arya hopped up & opened the door. Jon still had his motorcycle helmet on & his hands were full trying to keep soaked brown paper bags from completely ripping apart. Letting him pass & closing the door, she carefully followed after him, trying not to step on his wet footprints. He dropped off the bags on the kitchen counter.

"I got you your chow mein & got exactly 8 dim sum so don't finish them all before I finish my shower," he said, taking off his helmet & motorcycle gear.

"How'd you know I was home?" Arya asked, taking her takeout box & chopsticks.

"Just playing the odds."

Arya waited patiently.

"Bran gave me a heads up," he called out, walking towards the bathroom.

Sighing, Arya went at her food, not realize how hungry she was. Sitting at the kitchen counter, she realized she left Jon's present in the middle of the living room coffee table. It hadn't looked as if Jon had noticed, but she quickly snatched it up & kept in her hoodies front pocket. She was so preoccupied with the box & the thought of giving it to him, she didn't notice when he returned from the shower & pulled up a kitchen stool across from her.

"Hey, what did I tell you about finishing all the dim sum?" he asked incredulously, chucking the empty container into the trash.

Without any trace of guilt she said proudly, "I'm a growing girl. I need sustenance."

Jon sighed & took out one last package from the bottom of the soaked paper bags. "Good thing I planned ahead."

She reached out & he kept it away, "You can't have too much of a good thing. Everything in balance." He mimicked her teacher Syrio's accent.

Arya smirked, "He'd never steal someone's quote. Paraphrase, yes, but never direct quote."

He laughed & dug into his food. They ate in companionable silence, resting at their usual spots on the kitchen counter. Jon's dining room was used exclusively for when family dropped by, his or hers, but when they were alone, they ate at the kitchen counter. Jon always took the spot closer to the living room, while Arya sat on the kitchen side. 'A woman's place is in the kitchen' Jon had mused & Arya had responded with 'the kitchen's where all the sharp, pointy things are' but in truth, they shared kitchen duties equally.

"So are you just gonna sit there & not tell me what that box was about," Jon asked, pushing his stash of dim sum across to her.

Defeated, Arya placed the box in front of them. "Happy Anniversary".

"Well you sound happy."

"It was supposed to be a surprise."

Jon took the box, shaking it curiously, "So, what's the anniversary?"

Arya looked incredulously, "Our first date. We went to watch the last James Bond movie on opening night last year."

"That was a whole year ago? Man time flies," Jon mused. He set the box down, "This feels like a Sansa-thing though. I never thought you'd be into celebrating stuff like this."

"Living with some love sick fool rubs off on you to some degree."

"Well, at least you waited a whole year. Don't some girls celebrate the first week, month, 6 months?"

"Ugh," Arya exclaimed, sitting back, "If I ever turned into one of those girls, you have my permission to slap me out of it."

"Spanking?" Jon smirked, "I had no idea you were into that kind of thing."

"You know what I mean."

"Leather belts, outfits & whips."

Arya flung a noodle at him.

"So you're whipping me with a noodle? You're really taking this slow," Jon laughed, "It'll take years before we get to leather at this rate."

"Some relationships fizzle out right after their first anniversary," Arya muttered.

"I think we'll be ok," Jon relented. "But, don't think this is our anniversary date."

"Why not? When?"

"April 22." Jon said simply.

Arya's eyebrows scrunched together in thought, "What's so special about that date?"

Jon leaned forward, resting his elbows on the counter, "A couple of years ago, my aunt & uncle welcomed a baby into the world. With my parents schedules & me at BMX races & practices, we didn't have a chance to visit them until a week later. It turned into another party to celebrate the birth."

Arya leaned forward, captivated by the twinkle in Jon's eyes.

"We visited their house & of course all the parents are congratulating themselves. I've seen babies before- at the time it seemed all our family friends were having kids every couple months. I've seen it all & I was kinda over it. But then I met this one."

Jon offered his hand to Arya, who accepted it and he led her to the living room couch where they sat at the end of the couch opposite the window so they could watch the rain.

"Up till then, the baby had been sleeping, but then it woke up and started crying like all babies do. Aunt Catelyn did the usual things- check if it was hungry, just pooped itself, that kind of thing, but it hadn't. It just cried. My mom's not the type to back down from a challenge, even if it's one only she saw, so she asked if she could hold the little one & see if she could stop it from crying. Unfortunately, the baby kept crying on and on."

"After a few minutes, with Aunt Catelyn looking embarrassed that her baby wouldn't stop crying, she took the baby from my mother & was about to take her upstairs when I asked what was its name. Somehow, with everything going on, I hadn't actually been told much about the baby. No name, not even if it was a girl or boy."

Arya snuggled into Jon's chest, closing her eyes as he continued.

"Aunt Catelyn turned around and knelt in front of me and showed me the baby, 'Arya'. I looked at her & at that moment, she quieted down. It was such a surprise, that everyone's heads turned to see what had happened. Then Arya started cooing, & all the women flocked to this little baby making cute little baby sounds. I backed away to give them room, but Arya started crying. They left & as soon as she saw me again, she stopped crying. It was the strangest thing."

"For a while, it seemed me being around calmed the baby down. Sometimes I hung around the Starks like I was part of the family. I mean, I was, but I was starting to think of myself as a Stark. Eventually, when Robb outgrew his old bed, Uncle Eddard got him a bunk bed. Robb had the top & the bottom became my own personal guest bunk so Arya could come see me whenever she crawled around."

Arya punched Jon in the jaw.

"What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his jaw.

"I made a promise to myself that if any guy made me cry like Joffrey made Sansa, I'd punch them," a tear running down her cheek.

Jon wiped away her tear, "These are happy tears aren't. You need a new reaction."

"Like what?"

"What about kissing?" he leaned in & pressed his lips lightly against hers.

Arya stood up and dragged him to his bedroom, "I got something more strenuous in mind."

When Jon woke, the soothing sound of rain hitting the windows made him want to go right back to sleep. Looking up, he watched as Arya went about gathering up the discarded clothes from last night, dressed in the shirt he'd been wearing.

"Y'know, I didn't even get to open my anniversary present," Jon mused.

Arya paused & left the room, presumably to get the box. Jon's eye quirked when she returned empty handed.

"You can wait a couple months to open it up," Arya decided.

"C'mon, I'm curious."

"You had this last night," Arya flipped his shirt up to flash him, "and you're concerned about a shaving kit?"

Jon tilted his head, waiting.

"Shit!" Arya facepalmed.

Jon lay back in bed, laughing as he adjusted the sheets around him.

"I know a way to make you forget what I just said," Arya stalked towards the bed.

"Really?"

Arya took off his shirt & Jon smirked. At the last moment, Arya twirled the shirt in her hands & whipped Jon in the leg.

"OW damn!" Jon backed up into the headboard, "I thought you weren't into that kind of thing."

"Spanking, no," Arya brandished his shirt, "But whipping has an odd appeal to it."

Jon threw a pillow, which Arya dodged & countered with another whip. It cracked just short of Jon's chest.

"Did you forget yet?" she asked.

"Huh? Forget what?"

Smirking, Arya balled up his shirt and threw it at him. She confidently strode into the bathroom & started the shower.

"What the hell just happened?" Jon asked aloud, slumping against the headboard.

AN: Sorry for the lack of updates. Some of these aren't flowing out as well as I'd like & I'm getting writer's block. How do I deal with i? -start another drabble! So at some point, don't be surprised if I manage to post a bunch at a time. *fingers crossed*


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